Kainora Week Collection
by dreamoverdrive
Summary: Collection of Kainora Week fics including a coffee shop AU, high school AU, and assorted avatar-verse prompts.
1. Connection

Jinora was certainly not scheduling her mornings just so that she could see this guy.

No. Not at all.

She did not make sure that she was in the Starbucks at 6:45 am sharp five days out of the week because it when he went to get his vanilla bean whatever. That would have been strange, invasive, and unhealthy overall. She went to the Starbucks because she was a morning person. Never mind that it cut in to her early morning yoga sessions. Never mind that she was perfectly capable of making better tea than this Starbucks would ever be. She did it because she felt like it.

That was not the only thing she had felt of late. Whenever that door jingled open, she knew it was him. She could feel his very aura. It was warm, light, and clever. It was comforting just being in the same room as this guy. One morning, when she had been sitting close to the register, she had heard him say his name for the cashier to scrawl on the cup. Kai. She'd had to restrain herself from turning around to make introductions right then and there.

She didn't have an exact idea of what he looked like. She was too shy to steal more than second long glances. She didn't come to look at him; she just came to feel him there. She tried to piece together the glimpses of his features that she had caught. He had high cheekbones and a sharp jaw line that gave his face a mischievous cut. She had caught a glimpse of his hands when he reached for a drink. They were the kind of hands you saw on artists or engineers. Quick and nimble she thought. Although, how much did she really know from that quick moment she got a look at them?

She was content just to sit at her little table in the mornings, doing homework or reading. She didn't need to talk to him to enjoy being there.

So when he spoke to her, it was nearly enough to send her flying out of her chair.

She's sensed him walk in and get order drink as usual, but rather than wait by the counter, he began to move towards her and her table. The rational part of her mind was certain that there must be some other reason for his change in direction. Maybe he was going to look at the mug rack that she thought blocked her from view? Fluttering panic rose from her stomach into her throat when he passed every rack or shelve that he could possibly have been heading towards and ohgoodness he sat in the chair across from her.

It had the equivalent effect of someone filling her with air because she nearly thought that she was going to float out through the ceiling.

She didn't dare look up over her book at him. Maybe he was just there to be there? Alright, that sounded ridiculous even in her head but what other plausible reason—

"Hello."

His voice was bright and engaging and she felt her eyes slowly drift up almost against her will.

His eyes were green and grey and her literature-oriented mind immediately began to conjure similes. Green like forests with the grey light before dusk. Green like pockets of nature lit with pale sunlight hidden around the city.

"Hi," she finally choked. She took a quick sip of her tea, to have something to do with her mouth and to prevent herself from saying something that would have been undeniably embarrassing.

"My name is Kai." He said it with a wry smile and she had to hold back an— I know.

"Jinora."

His smile turned into a grin. "Nice to meet you, Jinora. You know, every day I come in and I see you reading a new book. Do you really finish them?"

She nearly choked on her own spit. The idea of him noticing her the way she had been noticing him was almost too much to bear. She disguised her internal freak out with a quick, "Yes, I do. Right now I'm actually reading—"

"Kai!" The barista yelled out his name from the counter. She glanced around and turned sheepish when her eyes fell on them and realized that she had interrupted something.

Kai stood up from his chair and instantly, Jinora realized that no, she wasn't content to just sit in the café when he was there. She wanted more. She'd just opened her mouth to say something that probably would have left her embarrassed for the next week but he was quicker.

"Doyouthinkmaybeyou'dwanttohavelunchwithme?"

His words came out in a rush and his cheeks flushed red. Jinora grinned, relieved and overwhelmingly happy that he had just voiced what she would have bungled. "Yes, Kai, I would love to have lunch with you."

Maybe he had felt the connection, too.


	2. Wonder

When the guy with the huge fake mustache started yelling at the edge of town, Kai had absolutely no intention of stopping. The sheriff and all his cronies were right on Kai's tail and the sack of gold was burning like a sack of fire on his shoulders. Besides, anyone with that much enthusiasm was obviously too desperate for something (be it tips or attention) for it to be worth Kai's time.

So when the old bald guy with tattoos started _air bending _Kai was surprised to find that he had stopped to watch. Kai had basic control of his bending- unlike like most of the other new air benders that he had encountered. He could even use it to make nicking stuff easier. Blow over a fruit stand- of course they didn't expect to get every piece back. Blow a lady's skirt up- she's too busy making a fuss for anyone to notice much of anything afterwards. Kai just saw it as a bonus. It certainly wasn't something that was going to _change his life_. It was going to make his life easier, sure, but it wasn't going to start feeding him or find him better places to sleep at night.

He had never seen anyone able to air bend better than him, and his pride was taking a serious walloping at this display.

When he saw the tornado thing the girl bent, he couldn't help but be very impressed. If he could bend tornados like that, there wouldn't be a sheriff out there that could make him run. He watched the yelling guy inside drop only to be scooped up again by another whirl of air and Kai grinned. This was the kind of mischievous bending he could relate to. The big flying thing with the giant tongue and tail was pretty cool (ok it was _reallyreally_ cool).

But what caught his attention the most was the flying. Kai hadn't realized that he had harbored a desire to fly until he saw a small orange and yellow figure spiraling over the heads of the crowd. He was hit with a gust of wind when the bender passed over him along with admiration and jealousy that made his knees weak. Oh, he was definitely going to learn how to do that.

A few twists and quick loops later and the figure had snapped open the glider to hover to a stop on the statue. That was when Kai realized that it was in fact a (very cute) girl his age. Her brown eyes glowed as she waved a hand held over her head at the hyped crowd. She beamed and Kai felt something unfolding in him at the sight of the girl standing up there against the sky with the blanketing sound of cheering.

He was _amazed_.

* * *

His breath caught as he stared up at the silhouette standing on the pinnacle of the Air Temple tower. She flicked open her glider and leapt into the air to bank on a wind current and soar through a series of spirals. It was enough to nearly make him choke on nostalgia from remembering the first time he had seen her use her glider. It felt like years had passed but it had barely been any time at all.

Seeing her first flight with her tattoos was bound to bring back some memories.

When she finally landed and rushed forward with a wild grin, he felt awe in its purest form. Head shaved, eyes bagged from the ordeal that had taken all night, and pale outlines of irritated skin around the edges of the tattoos- and she was still _breathtaking_.

She ran into him, clasping her arms tightly around his back.

"Kai, I feel so…"

She faded off and he could hear the wonder in her voice at the way she had changed. He gripped her tightly in case she floated away.

"Jinora, you're absolutely incredible."


	3. Mistake

Kai had become very used to adapting over his lifetime. He'd come to learn that no matter how careful he thought he was, no matter how safe he felt in the moment, there was always the huge probability that _something_ would go wrong.

He sure was proved right when he got on the airship, looking around at all the gilded chairs- _was that bowl of fruit on the table real- _and the sheriff pulled up. He knew it was a lot to hope for and the opportunity was almost too good to be true, but he wished that just once, only one time, something would turn out the way he wanted it to.

Whatever jail they were carting him off to would probably take months to sneak out of and in the meantime there would certainly be no couches or fruit bowls. Dread was pooling in his stomach but well, hadn't he expected it anyways?

And then, _"He just needs some guidance, Tenzin."_

Boy did he ever. He was called back and liquid luck must have been pumping through his veins because they even pulled him in for the first hug he'd had in months. Even the guy with the weird eyebrows telling him that his ruse wasn't as good as he thought couldn't stem the flow of relief.

When the girl who had flown the glider stopped him with a shy smile curling at the edges of her lips to offer him more help of all things, he stared at her averted brown eyes and leaned forward almost by instinct. He swayed straight back almost a second later and grinned, even though it felt a little more forced than before.

_Are you sure you aren't making a mistake?_

"Thanks. That's real nice of you."

* * *

'The Hole' was damp and being thrown in only made the bruises blossoming under his skin ache with a greater intensity. He laid his temple against the prickly wood bench, too upset to make noise or even voice his frustration to the stale air. He felt beaten. He felt beaten and alone.

A flicker of light made him start before a pervading blue glow materialized into- "Jinora!"

The electric blue apparition grinned and kneeled down to his level. She looked at him as though he hadn't run off to return to his life of thievery. The lack of judgment or resentment on her face eased the burn of shame. Maybe he shouldn't have left. His lifestyle was based on moving quickly; never stay in one place too long because places never stayed safe for very long.

But looking down at her- _I'll figure it out; don't worry-_he thought maybe there could be a place that did stay safe.

"Jinora!" she looked at him and something that felt strangely like his heart popped up into his throat. "Thanks."

* * *

"Can I touch them?"

She was radiant with a kind of shy pride as she nodded. "Be really gentle though. They still kind of hurt."

He leaned forward slowly and drew his fingertips gently over the point of the arrow on her forehead. "Wow," he breathed as she closed her eyes. "They're gorgeous, Jinora."

"I know," she whispered back. Her eyes fluttered open and she regarded him with a thoughtful gaze. "You'll get yours, too eventually."

The urge to look down at his feet in embarrassment was overcome by the urge to keep studying her arrows. "I don't know, Jinora. Me, the first air bender outside Avatar Aang's family to get tattoos? I was a thief. I tried to run away from you guys twice." His hand dropped to his side. "I don't deserve them."

She reached down and gripped both his hands tightly. "Kai," she murmured. "You're not a thief anymore. You deserve them more than anyone."

His eyes drifted up to meet hers. "What if you're making a mistake? What if you can't trust me?"

She squeezed his hands. "You're not a mistake, Kai. You never have been."

After hearing her say the words he had tried to convince himself of for so long, he began to believe them.


End file.
